


Corpsestuck

by orphan_account



Category: Corpse Party: Tortured Souls, Homestuck
Genre: Beta Read, Multi, Ohh oh, and my friends, beta trolls r 6, by my kismesis, dave is 11, gamzee and nepeta arent related to kurloz and meulin, jane is 17, love yall, mwah ily rodney, one sided gamkar, one sided gamzee/equius, one sided meowrails, or played.., the designs r being made by me, the rest of the cast is 15, theres a lot of onesidedness hddms, this is embarrasing, ughgbhdm, uhh lots of death, you dont need to have watched corpse party to read this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25714186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Your name is GAMZEE MAKARA, and you just wanted to have a nice goodbye for your best bro.Your name is KARKAT VANTAS and you’ll do anything to protect him.Your name is DIRK STRIDER and you just want to find your little brother.Your name is JOHN EGBERT and you are fascinated.Your name is TAVROS NITRAM and you just wanted to stay with the children.Your name is NEPETA LEIJON and you thought you could trust him.Your name is EQUIUS ZAHHAK and you just don’t understand why she did this.Your name is KANAYA MARYAM and you thought he was in danger.Your name is KURLOZ and they are all playing right into your hands.
Kudos: 4





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> wooooh, this is probably the first big scale fic ive ever posted. Im a wh0re for corpse party and aus so yeah.

Your name is GAMZEE MAKARA. You are 16 years of age and your best bro in the whole world is moving tomorrow.  
You and your classmates Equius, Dirk, and his little bro, Tavros, John, Nepeta, Kanaya, Karkat had just finished cleaning up after a festival held at your high school.  
Your thoughts turn back to Tav, who’s in an intense game of rock paper scissors with John over who gets to hold the umbrella on the way back.  
You've been friends since what, 6th grade? He's frankly, one of the nicest guys you know.  
It sucks to see him go, considering how long you'd known each other. Which is why you had to do this.  
“Listen up y’all, I've got one last thing planned before we all get our motherfucking move on.” You smile gently as everyone's faces turn back to you.  
“What the hell is it, Gam. We've already cleaned up everything.” Karkat’s familiar grumble makes your smile widden.  
“As y’all know, our number one bro is getting his grand move on tomorrow :o('' You watch that middle schooler, what’z his name again? Dave, right, lean towards his brother and whisper.  
“What does he mean..? He talks funny..”  
“That's rude, Dave. Anyway, he's talking about Tavros. That one. He's moving tomorrow”  
You're thankful for your good ears.  
“As I was mourning last night, I came across some funky ass charm online. It’ll make sure we always remain friends :o)”  
You look towards your bro, and he's smiling, if not looking a little anxious. Can’t blame him though, you've always got a trick or two up your sleeve.  
You pull out the slightly crumpled paper doll from your back pocket, smoothing it on your shirt.  
“Makara, this better not be something else about the, ah.. your ‘religion’, you know how we-” you shushed Kanaya and held out the doll, beckoning your bros around.  
“I know, motherfucker. I ain't forcing nothing on ya’ today” she looks a little upset at not being able to finish, but you wave it off.  
“As a motherfucker was saying, we all gotta hold onto a piece of this doll and chant “Kurloz, we beg of you.” and then rip the doll. That freaky ass motherfucker will bind us together for life!” You beam at the others. Kanaya doesn't seem all that convinced, Equius trusts you but isn't sure if he believes it from his expression, and Nepeta is already reaching.  
Rather reluctantly, Tavbro rolls up to you and grabs one of the dolls arms. With someone they consider sane taking the leap, your bros follow suit.  
Dave almost seems shy, “Can I..?”  
You nod reassuringly “Go for it, little man.”  
With everyone holding on, the doll is pulled taught.  
“Y’all motherfuckers ready for a miracle?” You practice the words in your head once more. Your Tavbro has been so stressed about not being able to find friends like y’all at his new place, you’ve gotta make this special for him. This has to work.  
“On 3 then?” You're surprised to hear Karbros' voice, but glad that someone else seems interested.  
“Alright then, on one..”  
You pray to the dark lord above that they don't mess this up.  
“On two..”  
He already gets so nervous about talking to people he does know, he needs the confidence of his friends..  
“On three!”  
You close your eyes tight.  
“Kurloz, we beg of you!”  
There's silence for a moment, before you all pull back and the doll tears into pieces.  
You begin to laugh, though it's more of a wheeze. Nobody messed it up.  
“Now, y’all can’t lose your piece. Keep it somewhere safe, and it’ll keep us bound together as brothers” you tuck yours into your student ID.  
There's shuffling as people move around.  
“With our luck, Gamz’ has put a curse on us” John elbows Dirk slightly and they laugh.  
Equius practically bristles at that, “We can trust Gamzee, he wouldn’t do something like that to us.”  
It only makes the two’s snickers grow louder.  
“Nah, nah, this'll just help remind our Tavbro we love ‘em.”  
He clears his throat slightly at his mention.  
“Sp..Speaking of which, I just, uhh, wanted to say something..” Tavros plays with the hands in his lap.  
“We’re all ears, Tav! :3” Nepeta smiles at him. You’re glad to hear her speak up.  
“So, uh… you guys mean a l..lot to me, and uh, I'm really gonna miss you guys.. M..my old friends would never have d..done something so sweet and it uhm, really means a lot to me”, he's smiling when he looks up, and you can see he’s started to cry. Not in a bad way.  
“And geez, I'm so bad at uhm, talking about stuff like this, b..but you guys are really cool and uhm, I'm so happy to have had friends like,, uhhh, you”  
If you didn't know your bro, you'd say his stuttering and pauses were insincere, but you’ve known him long enough to know otherwise.  
“Aww, Tavros don't cry !” John is pulling out his phone in a flash, snapping photos of Tavros. It makes him laugh and dry his tears.  
“And, you won't be super duper far!! We can come visit you when school lets out for the summer!!” Nepeta beams at him and begins to list off all the things that you guys’ll do. Equius shushes her as you ruffle Tavros’ hair.  
“Now that we got all that icky sappy stuff out of the way, can we go home” Dave whines, and the rest of you guys crack up.  
“He’s right though, we should head home..” and just as Kanaya reaches for the door handle, everything goes black and the floor drops from beneath you.


	2. chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so if you've not seen corpse prty you won't know it but theres a suicide scene here. Not graphic and theres no ideation, but stay safe <3
> 
> i hate equius :)

Your name is EQUIUS ZAHHAK, and today has not been a good day, obviously.  
You barely got to spend any time with the love of your life your friend Gamzee, since he was all over that Tavros kid, at the festival YOU had coordinated with him :(.  
Oh, and you and your peers had accidentally ended up falling through the floor after doing a ritual thing Gamzee had proposed. You trust Gamzee and know he wouldn’t have done this to you guys. Well, not on purpose. He's not always the ah,, brightest bulb in the box.   
You finally begin to stir when somebody begins to shake you by the shoulders . Well, more like one of them rather aggressively. You've got the broadest shoulders of your class and whoever it is is clearly smaller than you by a long shot’  
“..ake up, Equius! We’ve gotta try and find the others 3:” ah, it's Nepeta. Your only close friend, other than Gamzee. She's a little weird, with her cat girl and roleplay stuff, but she's still so sweet you could never turn her away.  
Your eyes open, “Ah, Nepeta..”  
“Yayy, you survived the fall!!” She beams as she offers you a hand. You look around before allowing her to pull you up.  
“Where.. Are we?” Speaking of where, this place is bleak. It looks to be an old elementary classroom, based off the desk and chair size, as well as the ABC posters on the wall. It would be comforting if not for the layers of grime and how dark it was. This place had obviously been abandoned for some time..  
“..ows! It reminds me of one of the stories Gamzee was telling, y’know, with the dead teacher and stuff?” You need to be a better listener, obviously.  
“Hm,, well, c’mon, we need to find the others.” You don’t drop her hand. It’s comforting. She's warm and makes you feel a little bit better to be dragged along.   
Internally, you pretend her hand is Gamzee’s. Gamzee would be such a better person to be with, so much more situationally aware, so much funnier, so much more…  
As you walk, she runs her other hand along the walls. She was a very touchy-feely kind of person. You grimace and almost slap her arm away. The walls are,, filthy. The grime is dirt, dust, and what looks to be blood. The idea of touching it makes you shudder.  
You duck into classrooms, run through the halls, try every door and window there is and still can't seem to find a way out. You swallow.  
“Do you think we’re all alone, Nep?” Your voice is more shaky then you’d like it to be.   
She stays silent.  
You walk into a classroom and begin to look around. Like every other room, the windows are locked and don’t appear to have anything outside them. You hope that means they're just boarded up from the outside.  
It wouldn’t explain how you got here, though. You’re trying to rationalize it in your head. Perhaps Gamzee’s tale wasn’t a lie, and this really was a school under a school. The thought makes you claustrophobic.  
You pause to examine one of the desks. It's a round table, probably shared by four or five students at once. It was a diarrhea green that seems so odd you reach down to touch it. In one quick motion you’ve revealed the original neon color, covered in caked on dirt and dust.  
It's covered in crayon marks and stickers in a way that makes you nostalgic. You wonder what had happened at this school to have everything left so intact. You turn your head and your eye catches something shiny in the corner. It contrasts to the grimness of the room.  
You make your way over to see what it is. Its a bucket, and it seems to have been recently placed here due to the lack of dust you notice when you touch it.   
Suddenly the bucket tips, and you scramble back as blood and intestines spill over you. Your ankle catches on a chair and turns in a way that amplifies the yell you had already let out.  
“Equius! What happen-” Her voice cuts mid-word and drops, “-nd..”  
She looks from you, to the bucket, to your ankle, and immediately offers you a hand.  
“Did you trip over that nasty thing? Who would even leave something like that around!” Nepeta huffs and helps support you.  
“And since we’re all alone, we don't even have anyone to help you..! Can you walk?” She seems visibly upset, just not at you. Which is good, you don’t want the only other person stuck with you to be angry with you.  
“I’m alright, Nepeta. Just,, caught off guard. Who would leave a bucket of.. bodily fluids around for people to get hurt on?”  
She doesn’t respond, worryingly. She just keeps dragging you along.  
“We’re all alone here, Eq. Which is pretty good, considering you’re the best person to be stuck with. I wouldn’t want anybody else.” Her smile is back and she stops suddenly. You break a sweat.  
“Maybe now isn’t the best time, but I like you a lot. And I'm glad to get to spend time with you! You seemed so sad at the festival, and I wanna make it up to you while we wait on someone to save us!” Her beaming smile is bringing one to your own face.  
“I like you too, Nepeta, more than anyone else”, which, if you’re being honest, is a lie. Sure, you like her, maybe in a i-get-sweaty-and-bubbly-around-you way, but there's definitely someone else you’d rather be sharing this conversation with.   
She eats it all up though, and reaches for your hand as she gently skips down the hallway, “While I was exploring, I found an infirmary. I'm no good with injuries, but you can at least rest!”  
You thank her, and for the rest of the walk she’s the one doing all the talking. As she rambles, you swear you could hear a child, perhaps a little boy, laugh from behind you. She doesn’t notice it though and to stop her from worrying you don't say anything.  
When you finally get to the infirmary, she lays you down on that disgusting, rotting cot and drags the rotting blanket over you before worming down beside you.  
You remain still and quiet, closing your eyes as her warm breath ghosts over your cheeks.  
“Equius,, we’ll always be friends, right?” Her voice almost quivers and you reopen your eyes to stare into her olive ones.  
“Of course we will. Even without the charm, our bond is unbreakable.” she looks almost giddy at your response, before she reaches into her skirt pocket and her face twists into a more sheepish one.  
“Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure I lost my piece. I outta go find that..” She stands up and a wave of anxiety goes through you.  
You sit up, “Wait! Let me go with!”  
She pushes you back down, “No, Equius. You need to rest and if I’m here you won’t be able to!”  
You sigh, and she looks almost pitying, “I’ll be right back!”   
As she leaves, her footsteps are the only sound.  
That's probably the worst part of all of this. It’s silent, you can hear every unexplainable giggle, every subtle creak of the floorboards.  
Suddenly the creaks aren’t subtle and they’re heavy footsteps, walking down toward you. Not at all like Nepeta and her gentle light footedness.  
You go to sit up and find yourself paralyzed. The sounds are getting louder and you can’t move to hide, or to scream for help. All you can do is try to calm your heavy breaths.  
Clunk.  
If you could, you’d be under your bed, covering your mouth. You can’t of course. Your eyes are left open and actively drying.  
Clunk  
Shouldn't she be back by now? How bad did she lose that paper?  
Clunk  
It's just that. Paper. Why is she sacrificing your life for the arm of a paper doll.  
Clunk  
She has to be able to hear them, they've gotten so loud by now. Is she ignoring it?  
Clunk  
You don’t know what it is yet or how scared to be.  
Clunk  
They just keep getting closer. Where is Nepeta?   
Clunk  
You feel like crying. The tears are in your eyes, trained to the door. It’s right outside now. You’re done for, she isn’t coming back in time.  
Clunk.   
Inhuman is the only way to describe the.. thing at the door. It’s wispy black fingers curl around the door frame for a moment, white eyes trained on you. It pounces, moving so quick you’re almost thrown off the bed. It’s mist enters your mouth. You feel almost lightheaded as it courses through you.  
You think of Nepeta, where IS she?! Perhaps there was another creature, perhaps it had gotten to her. You whimper at the thought.  
It hits you then. The paralysis is gone.  
The scream that leaves you is eardrum bursting, so loud it scares the ghost away. It retreats quickly and you RUN, run in whichever direction Nepeta had walked off too.   
You catch up to her quick, knocking her to the ground with a hug. You’re crying now, heavy, thick tears that roll down your cheeks. She’s talking at you but you ignore every word of it  
“Where WERE you, you said you’d come right back. Do you care more about PAPER then my life?? I could’ve died, couldn’t you hear it?”  
She’s left speechless for a moment, mouth agape. “Equius, I..”  
“How could you have cared? You’re so, you’re so STUPID! You live in this little bubble of happiness where nothing bad ever happens and it’s so childish! You are so childish, Nepeta!”  
The halfway is silent save for your heavy breaths. She looks down at you as she pushes you off “The Equius I know would never say these things to me. You’re just, an imposter or something!” She bursts into tears and runs off, heavy sniffles echoing through the building.  
For several minutes you sit and wait, hoping she’ll come back. Your ankle is aching and you don't want to chase her.  
But the guilt seeps in. Yelling at her about irrelevant things wasn’t helpful or necessary. Nothing that bad had even happened to you, so why did you..  
You stand up and run in her direction. This whole situation has got you on edge and you need to apologize.  
You’re searching for what seems like forever, calling her name. She doesn’t respond, and you don't blame her.   
You end up back in the room with the yellow table, the room where everything had gone wrong. As you step inside, you hear a.. creaking almost. You don’t remember it from earlier..  
You turn towards the corner where the bucket had been, and there she was. Hanging, from the light.   
Your mouth falls open and her name slips out as you rush forward. How could she do this? Nepeta was never suicidal, not once. Something small like this wouldn't drive her to do something like,, this!  
You’re in tears again as the swaying continues. She's dead, and it's all your fault. The light creaks.  
“N..o… har..d fee..lings” Her voice brings you to reality and your head snaps up. She's alive, just barely. She smiles gently, though it's so clearly forced you want to cringe. Her nail scrabble at the rope as it digs into her neck. She's asphyxiating.  
You’re so shocked that you can’t move, all you can do is watch her struggle. Her smile fades and her eyes close as her arms fall to her side.  
The swaying begins again. All is silent, aside from her name spilling from your lips in broken sobs.  
Nepeta Leijons just hung herself and it's your fault.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my pissbaby moirail didn't edit this chapter so if its shitty that why bvndhbs  
> this chapter tackles dirk and dave  
> also if anything seems oddly censored, please let me know! I have to censor things because i write on my school comp. I try to fix it in post but i forget sometimes hsgdsmjzd

Your name is DAVE STRIDER, and you’re starting to think that bringing your older brother an umbrella was a bad idea. You knew full well it was just an excuse to not have to be alone in the dark any longer, but you’d rather be at home alone then wherever you guys were now.   
The place REEKED, like rotting wood and decay its hard to look cool when you’re trying not to pinch your nose. Dirk doesn’t seem bothered though. Cool people don't seem bothered by anything.  
You’re glad you’re here with him. You shudder at the thought of being stuck with that weird juggalo kid. Dirk isn’t anything like him. He’s cool and composed as you search through the school for the others. You’re starting to think its just you two. Maybe that's a good thing.  
The people Dirk hung out with were surprisingly uncool. You’d think he’d hang around people just like him, but he really doesn't. They're all sappy and sweet, full of gushy emotions you pride yourself on not showing. The thought of crying in front of YOUR friends makes you want to curl up and die.  
You only return from your thoughts when you stop and realize that you need to pi ss. Which sucks, because you’re kinda trapped in a decaying school with no electricity. You turn towards Dirk.  
“Hey, uh, Bro? Maybe it's not a great time, but i need to use the bathroom.” With anyone else, you would’ve wanted to scream just mentioning anything restroom related, but dirk is different. He’s your bro, he won't care. Another reason to be thankful for not being stuck with anyone else.  
But from the way his face contorts behind his shades you realize that he DOES care. Shoot. “Really? Well.. Okay, we’ll figure this out somehow.”  
You look down at your shoes. They cost a lot. More then you guys spend on groceries a month. They were totally worth it though, you love the way they look. That goth chick in your band class even said they were cool. If anyones got style, its 6th graders who dress like the women in goth gf compilations on the hub.  
You turn a corner quicker then dirk and walk dead into a little boy. You both tumble to the ground. Your shades fall from your face and hit the ground with a sound that makes your stomach drop.  
You look up at the kid to see who it is, hoping its someone you know. You scramble back at the site of him.   
His hair is matted in a way that looks like it hasn't been brushed in years. The shirt he wears hangs off his shoulders and is torn in several places. Its long enough to brush his nobly, ashy knees. His face is gaunt like the rest of him, and his lips are sewn shut with seemingly rotting thread. His eyes are sunken and covered by his disgusting hair.  
“JESUS-” You scramble back, not wanting to touch him.  
Dirk crosses the corner at your yell, stopping to examine the child as well.  
He can’t be more than 5, from the looks of him. He stares up at you with uninterested eyes, watching you intensely. His thin fingers curl around your glasses.  
“Oh god, what happened to you, kid?” Dirk murmurs as he kneels down beside him. You stay back, mouth agape in a mixture of horror and disgust.  
He can't answer of course, but he lifts his hand with the glasses towards you. It gives you a full view of his cracked, grey nails. He’s disgusting.  
You reach out to grab them with a shaky hand. As you grab hold, your fingers brush his dry, cracked skin. You feel sick.  
As you place them back on your face, dirk continues to talk to him. The boy blinks slowly before he begins to sign. Neither of you are lucky enough to understand what he's saying. Dirk brushes his knees off and stands, taking the boys hand to help him up. You admire him for not even flinching upon touching him.  
You stand up and wipe your sweaty palms on your pants, dusty from the floor.  
“Can you tell us how long you've been here using your fingers?”Dirk's voice is soft when talking to him, like the boy will shatter if he’s any louder. You know, somehow, that the boy is playing into it, with his slowness, and with how his eyes don't show anything.  
That's the worst part about him, his eyes. They're grey and glazed over, but you can look at them and tell that hes evil. You won't mention it to Dirk, since he won't believe you.. But you know there's something wrong with that child. Other than the,, obvious.  
He holds up 10 fingers. Jesus. You can only hope he means days. If he isn't lying..  
“That's a long time, huh Bud? Lets get ya’ out of here”, You glare at the boy as you turn away. He’s all KINDS of messed up.  
“If you've been here for so long, can you tell me where the bathroom is?” You sound ruder then you meant to, and it makes dirk elbow you.   
The boy nods and drops your bro’s hand, reaching for yours. If he wasn’t so disgusting, it’d almost be cute.  
You swallow hard and take his hand in yours, and in a flash he’s dragging you along. You shout for dirk, but this kid is inhumanly fast. His dirty nails are digging into your flesh, leaving it impossible for you to escape. He’s got to be flying.  
When he stops, its to shove a door open. Hes dragging you again, and he shuts the door behind you as he finally lets you go. You rub your wrist, his long nails had cut you.  
“I knew something was wrong with you, you little freak..” you mumble, and turn back to the door. Well, where the door had been. You hit the wood that once had been your gateway away from this child.   
“Didnt you need to use the restroom?” you snap around, gasping. Weren't his lips sewn?!  
They very much were, but his smile was so wide now that they were drawn taught.   
“If you need to do it, do it out there.” He gestures towards the woods next to you guys. His lips remained unmoving.  
Fine, you’ll play this sickos game. You hobbled over towards the woods. You can feel his stupid, dead eyes on your back as you do your business. This is embarrassing on a new level.  
“There, I did it. You happy n…” Your voice trailed off as you turned to where he had been. This was too freaky for you. You knew you needed to find your way back to dirk, but he was nowhere to be seen, and if you stayed out here a minute longer something bad would happen. You just knew it.  
You took off running towards the door on the opposite side of where you had come from. You swallowed hard and ran back inside, letting the door slam behind you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If i made an insta for this work to keep yall updated, would you check it out?


	4. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh sorry for not posting 😔 i wasn’t in the mood for writing lately.  
> anyway this chapter is gonna introduce two new characters and somebody’s gonna die 😀

Your name is KANAYA MARYAM, and you are desperately trying to find your peers.  
You use fancy words like peers rather than friends, because you’re on the student council. You dream of being a teacher, specifically an english one.   
You understand it’s hard to take someone seriously when they are wearing a twilight shirt in 2020, but c’mon, you thought cringe culture was DEAD.   
Cringe culture is only dead when it comes to pretty things, like cosplaying and furries. Whatever, you don’t care what people think about you. You’re an authority figure. You command respect, no matter if you’re wearing a team Edward shirt.  
Speaking of authority, you’ve been running around this place for what seems like AGES, and nobody has answered your calls. You need to get them into one place so you can travel in a pack, which will make it easier to get out.  
You’re utterly disgusted by the amount of gore in this place. You practically tripped over a bucket of literal intestines. Hopefully, they're animal guts.  
No, scratch that, hopefully they're FAKE.   
Maybe this is some personal purgatory. Maybe you’re actually dead, and stuck in a grimy, gorey, elementary school all alone. It sounds like something you would suffer in. Still, there's no point in giving up.  
You are THE Kanaya Maryam, you will keep fighting until every one of your friends are safe. Despite your attitude, you love them all. You refuse to let even one join the buckets in the hallways.   
You turn a corner, smoothing your skirt out. If this was your school, you’d be striking terror and authority with each clink of your demonias to the floor. You are the scariest egirl they'll ever meet.  
You ace every class with ease, which is why you’re rarely in the class to begin with. You are an impromptu hall monitor, you can be in the bathrooms inconspicuously reapplying lipstick, but you’re really waiting for whoever's been putting out their cigs on the counter to show so you can catch them in the act.  
You’d never suspect a team edward of such a feat.   
You stop when you hear a voice. A familiar one, one that almost makes your eyes water. You’re not as alone as you thought.  
It’s Tavros, and he’s obviously not alone either. His stutter isn’t as evident, he sounds almost relaxed. Which is new for him.  
“My f..favorite class is definitely art too, i..t’s probably the least stressful” You can hear the smile in his voice. Who is he talking to, though?  
You turn the door, and your heart plummets to your stomach.  
His chair is parked in front of two little girls, which would be fine, if one of the girls wasn’t missing her head from the top jaw up. The blood had seemingly dried long ago, but you could still see the inside of her throat as it contracts with each breath. You’re disgusted, color draining from your face.  
The other girl is miserable looking, matted hair, completely white, dead eyes, or, more accurately, eye. The other one had clearly been removed long ago, but blood remained in the socket and down her face. The two combined were sickening.  
And you’d THINK for someone as scared of everything with a shadow as the parapalegic was, he’d be ten feet away from these kids, but no, he held conversation with them like they were.. normal!  
Maybe it's because HE'S weird. He’s your brand of weird, likes disney, he's fairly smart and pretty quiet, but he's not like those girls.  
You’ve convinced yourself for years that nobody cares about his wheelchair and that the school is totally fit for him.  
Deep down though, you know he's not. You know he’s failing gym because there's literally no way for him to participate, not because he doesn’t care.  
You turn a blind eye to how classmates use his disability for clout, and the jokes made at his expense fall on deaf ears. He’s unhappy and everyone knows it, you just aren’t ready to make a change, since you’re comfortable like this.  
Speaking of comfort, you cough in his direction, to get his attention.  
His eyes turn lazily towards you, “Oh, hey, K..Kanaya”  
The girl with one eye narrows it towards you and scoots closer to Tav. He either doesn't notice or doesn’t care.  
“Good evening, ah, what are you doing with these.. girls,” his smile fades for a minute into an exasperated look of distaste, just long enough for you to catch it.  
“Talking! They’re lonely }:(“  
“..Lonely, right. Anyway, I need you to come with. We need to find the others and get out of here.”  
“Uhmm,, about that.” He looks towards his hands, “I can’t move a..around well in here, and, um, If it w..weren’t for these girls, I’d be stuck a..t the b..bottom of the stairs still.. um, and they’re really lonely, it’s just them and t..two others.. So.. they’re r..really pitiable, and-”  
His rambling and his stutter is SO annoying, “Just- ugh, just get to the point already!”  
“Oh- um..” his cheeks and ears brighten with embarrassment, and you can practically feel the anger radiating from those girls.  
“Look, Kanaya.. I’ll be st..staying, uh, with t..them”  
Your heart sinks to your stomach, and you gawk at him.  
“You’re joking, what spell did they put you under!” you rush forward, grabbing his shoulders, “What’s gotten into you?! John wouldn't want to to stay here, would he?”  
He pauses, “..John..?”  
In a split second of his considering, the eyeless girl rises to her feet, pushing you away from Tavros and onto the floor.  
“Woah, Meulin, cal-” You take mental note of the girls name.   
“Leave US alone” her voice is shaky and helps you realize how young she is.  
“ ‘us’? Don’t you get it, grudge girl? He doesn’t want to stay with you, he’s got a life” You hiss at her, moving forward again.  
“No.” The voice comes from the jaw girl, and she rises to. She’s scarily serious.  
In a flash, the girls are at Tavros’ useless, floppy legs, pulling him from his wheelchair.  
“Hold on, put me down-”  
He seems almost panicked, arms not long enough to force them off.  
If you were smart, you’d have tossed them off, threw him back into his chair, and wheeled him out of there like your life depended on it. But maybe you’re not because in a flash he's dragged from the room as he yells for you to help. When you finally stand up to chase after him, his shouts have turned into absolute shrieks as he's dragged across the floor face first.   
The sickening thud and following sounds of his bones snapping inside of him is enough to call you into the hall.   
It's too late and you know it, his body had hit at such a speed his head had hit the wall like a blood and brain matter water balloon. His body is practically unrecognizable, bent at such angles that he looks more like an art piece than a human.  
The children are long gone.  
You sink to your knees as the festival food leaves your body. You can’t bring yourself to look at him as you hack up your stomach until it’s nothing but bile stinging your throat.  
You failed him, and you failed the rest of your peers. He might as well be in a bucket now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow my insta rl_eridan


	5. chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> grrr hiss growls   
> i wrote this days a go but my beta wouldn’t do his thing 💔 ugh  
> posted on my phone whehd

Your name is KARKAT VANTAS and you’re upset. Okay, you usually are upset about something or other, but you’re extra upset right now.   
“Jesus Gam, you really messed us up?” and you’re not wrong. He found some friendship charm online that had fallen through and got you all trapped in this h ellhole.  
And by he llhole you mean the nasty, dark school you two have ended up in.  
You seem to be the only ones here, which you can’t help but appreciate. You cringe at the thought of being stuck with someone like Tavros, who, while you love, can be unbearable at times.   
ESPECIALLY when he's scared or nervous, and if you're uneasy in here, hed be s hitting his pants right now.  
You use that thought to remind yourself you are NOT scared. Not at all. Not of the creaks in the wood, not of the buckets of guts, not of the door you just heard slam.   
“Hah, yeah, I guess i did, huh mother f u cker?” Gamzee’s voice drags you from your thoughts, and you shoot a glare at him.  
You huff loudly, crossing your arms across your chest, “You always mess something up.” He laughs at that, shoving you gently. Or, what you assume he hoped was gentle. He’s strong for a wannabe skinhead.  
Due to your arms being preoccupied in showing your displeasure, you couldnt stop yourself from hitting the wall behind you with a crack.  
Luckily, the crack didn’t come from your neck. It came from the rotting wall behind you.   
Speaking of that wall, it had seemingly suffered so much damage from its disrepair that it caved beneath your weight. If you weren't falling to the ground at this moment, you might have felt insecure about that.  
You hit the ground hard, and Gamzee rushes towards you, “Woahh, Mother fucker, you alright?”  
“Yeah, i’m just fucking dandy.” You scoff, and as you put an arm down to help yourself up, you brush something cloth.  
You curl your finger around it and pull up a tiny burlap bag, just the size of your palm. It was pretty clearly stained with what you knew from everything about this place was blood.  
“What ya’ got there, mother fucker?” You glanced towards him, gently opening it up to see for yourself.  
You plunge a couple fingers inside the bag and pause when you brush something cold and bumpy. You cant say you like the feeling. Gamzee’s brown eyes are boring into your skull though, so you go ahead and pull it out.  
And immediately throw the severed tongue to the ground.  
You’re speechless for a minute, trying to comprehend what you were even looking at. A severed tongue in a bag in a closet.  
“Who would leave something like that for anybody to find!” You’re shaking more than you should be for something that is, objectively, not super troubling.  
You’re shouting rage fueled insults as you desperately wipe your hands on your pants. Gamzee mostly just lets you rant as he gently scoops it up and back into the bag, pulling the strings tight and placing the bag in his pocket.   
It takes a couple more minutes for you to really calm down, but when you do, you need a couple more seconds to calm down from your rage. He pats your arm gently, not in a patronizing way, he’s just letting you know its okay.   
“Feeling better, Mother fucker?” His smile can only be described as wonky, but its cute.  
“..Yeah” He takes your hand gently, and you guys start to walk, still in search of a way out.  
You notice that after the tongue had been found, the slams and creaks had gotten more frequent. Almost frustrated. You guys weren’t alone and both you and Gamz know that whatever it is, its not any of your friends.  
You’re walking in a comfortable silence for a good five minutes before you can very clearly hear whatever was with you was close. You throw an arm out to stop him as it barrels through the rooms nearby,  
“Wh-..where.. Where is it!?” its voice is young, and it lisps heavily and forces words out. Its scratching at the walls, kicking and yelling, and you just KNOW its next door.  
You both remain silent, but your eyes are locked and you’re gripping his hand a little too tight.  
“Nea..r, near its.. ts, CLOSE” The stuttering almost reminds you of Tavros, and you really hope he's not here. He wouldn't last a minute here.  
It finally crosses the hallway and into the doorway of your room, and the horrible shouting and stomping and growling was all coming from..  
A little boy in an oversized, blue sweater that hangs past his knees. His hair is long and hangs past his eyes, and he's got a blue tint to him, like he’s translucent.  
Your eyes lock and he’s suddenly charging at you, pair of rusted scissors in hand, “y..ou, hav..e.. Ha.. YOU.”  
You’re able to catch his arms before the scissors enter your gut, and almost distantly, you hear gamzee shouting, You’re not paying attention to him though, all your focus is on the little boy who is once again struggling to get his words out,  
“You’ve g.. Y-you.. Go..t it”, he digs his legs into the ground as your grip tightens on his knobbly arms.  
“Hey.” Your voice is calmer than it should be, and he almost pauses, “I dunno what you’re looking for, but we’ll help you find it. You can trust us”.  
He worries his bottom lip and you can imagine his eyes flicking back and forth, “Pro...mise?”  
Gamzee’s words fade in again, “You got, it little dude.”  
He slowly lowers the scissors and you release his arms.  
“Missin- miss.. Mi-ssing-” He balls his small hands up and hits himself in the head several times.  
“Woah, woah, don’t do that bro. Can ya’ point or something?” You forget how oddly gentle Gamzee can be.  
The boy lowers his fists and opens his mouth to motion towards his tongue. Or, where it should be. It had been severed enough to mess up his speech but not enough to be entirely noticeable.  
“Oh. OH-” You turn to Gamzee and gesture towards his breast pocket. He fishes out the bag and the tongue inside, gently offering it to the boy.  
He snatched it back, and from his mouth alone he looks close to tears, “Y-yes, y..es, mine. Tu.. Tuna’s.”  
He clutches it and wipes his eyes on his sweater and then- he’s gone. Just like that, he’s disappeared.  
You glance back towards Gamzee, “You think this is our way outta here? Finding body parts?”  
He chuckles, “Who knows, mother f ucker. It ain't me”.  
You roll your eyes, “Yeah, well its our best bet.”  
You rise from your knees and grab the bag from the ground, despite how it makes your stomach churn imaging what was inside.  
“Let's find some demon kids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow my insta @rl_eridan

**Author's Note:**

> follow my insta <3 rl_eridan


End file.
